EFA Goal 1: Early childhood care and education; Asia ... - Unicef

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It is clear from figure 3 that there was a decline in the gross enrolment ratios for pre-primary education in most Central Asian countries between 1990 and 2000, primarily due to a budget crisis after the fall of the Soviet Union, with the rates climbing in 2009 in many of those countries. In East Asia and the Pacific also, the gross enrolment ratio in pre-primary education have increased between 2000 and 2009 in almost all countries. In particular, the increase was sharpest in two countries of South and West Asia (India and Islamic Republic of Iran), at least according to the available data for the three reference periods. Figure 2: Regional averages of gross enrolment ratios in pre-primary education 2000, 2005 and 2009 100% 2000 80% 60% 40% 20% 34 39 46 15 17 21 51 61 67 21 26 28 39 43 52 58 65 69 76 79 80 25 35 47 11 15 18 2005 2009 0% World Arab States Central and Eastern Europe Central Asia East Asia and the Pacific Latin America and the Caribbean North America and Western Europe South and West Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Source: Statistical Annex, UIS, 2011. Figure 3: Gross enrolment ratios in pre-primary education: 1990, 2000 and 2009 140% 120% Central Asia East Asia and the Pacific South and West Asia 1990 2000 100% 2009 Asia-Pacific End of Decade Notes on Education for All 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Tajikistan Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Kazakhstan Mongolia Note: Ranked by data for 2009. Cambodia Source: Statistical Annex, UIS, 2011. Lao PDR China Philippines Indonesia Malaysia Macao (China) The Asia-Pacific region reflects considerable progress and challenges in working towards Goal 1. Based on repeated mention in recent regional conferences (ARNEC, 2009 and 2011a), five broad themes will be analysed as particularly relevant in the region. The following sections provide an overview of progress made over the past decade in five thematic areas and a summary of the significant challenges that remain. Australia Japan Brunei Darussalam New Zealand Thailand Republic of Korea Hong Kong (China) Islamic Republic of Iran India 8
The five themes: 1. Policy-making 2. Access for vulnerable and disadvantaged children (closely related to finance issues) 3. Holistic ECCE (encompassing health and well-being of young children) 4. Standards, regulations and guidelines, and training and capacity-building 5. The quality imperative (defining quality and analysing caregiver – child ratios and interactions, parenting and community involvement, curriculum and approaches, coordination among multiple actors, monitoring and evaluation) An additional section on disparities due to poverty and limited parental education has also been included to underscore the reality that inclusion and equity continue to persist as challenges that underlie each trend. 3.3 Policy-making for early childhood A plethora of legal frameworks, initiatives and provisions relating to early childhood exist in countries in the region. Overall, noteworthy progress has been made with regards to developing or implementing a national, multisector policy in both the East Asia and Pacific and the South and West Asia subregions. East Asia and the Pacific Several countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Viet Nam) have a national policy or laws concerning early childhood. Brunei Darussalam’s Long-Term Development Plan (2007–2012), also known as Wawasan Brunei 2035, lists early childhood education (ECE) as an investment priority under its Outlined Strategies and Policies for Development from 2007–2017. 2 Brunei’s focus on ECE in the past was the domain of the Ministry of Education (under primary education) and focused largely on education for children aged 5–6 years in pre-school sections attached to government primary schools. The Ministry of Education established an early childhood education unit in 2010, which expanded the focus of ECCE support to children aged 3–6 years. In Cambodia, a national ECCD policy was developed and approved in 2008 through inter-ministerial consultations. The Government endorsed the national ECCD policy in 2010 (Royal Government of Cambodia, 2010). A national plan of action was also developed. An ECCD Technical Committee (with 15 ministries named in the implementing guidelines) was then established. In Indonesia, 99 per cent of kindergartens are organized by community parties, while the Government operates only 0.6 per cent of centres nationally. This lack of public investment in early childhood may account for huge variations in the net enrolment rates across provinces, considering many poor families cannot afford the relatively high costs associated with private facilities. Article 28 of Law 20, 2003, made some provision for underserved populations of young children. Because private centres offer ECCE regularly, the principal strategy appears to be the delivery of services to these areas through integration with health services (posyandu) and religious contexts (mosques, churches and viharas). The overall strategy is the guidance of early childhood-related initiatives through advocacy and community involvement rather than through direct policy formulation. In the document Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Country Report (Ministry of National Education, Indonesia, 2007), the directorate in charge (PAUDNI) made a series of commitments in line with the Ministry of Education’s strategic plan 2004–2009 that centred 2 Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam, 2008. EFA Goal 1: Early Childhood Care and Education 9
Page 1 and 2: UNESCO Bangkok Asia and Pacific Reg
Page 3 and 4: Published by UNESCO Bangkok, UNICEF
Page 5 and 6: List of Boxes Box 1: School readine
Page 7 and 8: Preface “The equation is simple:
Page 9 and 10: Foreword In 1990, a World Declarati
Page 11 and 12: Executive summary The term ‘early
Page 13 and 14: 1 Introduction The international co
Page 15 and 16: or relevant for all countries; ther
Page 17: At that time, these figures were se
Page 21 and 22: In Timor-Leste, an ECCE policy will
Page 23 and 24: Additionally, gaps in national-regi
Page 25 and 26: Wealth quintiles have served as a u
Page 27 and 28: socialization of girls and boys, su
Page 29 and 30: Figure 8: Pre-school assessment: Co
Page 31 and 32: Stunting, or low height for age, is
Page 33 and 34: In Thailand, early integrated progr
Page 35 and 36: the EFA Fast Track Initiative (Mong
Page 37 and 38: Even when countries have standards,
Page 39 and 40: and congruence with parental and cu
Page 41 and 42: Figure 13 indicates that the number
Page 43 and 44: Box 7: Inclusion in an ethnolinguis
Page 45 and 46: 4.9 Summary of priority areas for t
Page 47 and 48: and beneficial to engage in trainin
Page 49 and 50: 5.2 Recommendations for improving a
Page 51 and 52: 6 Conclusion It is clear that count
Page 53 and 54: Burford, G., L. O. Ngila and Y. Raf
Page 55 and 56: Ministry of Education. Early Childh
Page 57 and 58: Rao, N., J. Sun, V. Pearson, E. Pea
Page 59 and 60: Statistical annex Annex 1: Subregio
Page 61 and 62: Region Country or territory Referen
Page 63 and 64: Region Country or territory Referen
Page 65: Region Country or territory Latin A

EFA Goal 1: Early childhood care and education; Asia ... - Unicef

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